Be Aware of Cancellations Holding Up Future Payouts

[Kayla200]

Recently I had a guest book for three months.  She was new to Airbnb and asked in advance if I would allow her two small dogs.  I do not allow pets but she booked anyway and said she would find other arrangements for her pets.  The guest then found accommodations that would allow her dogs so I agreed to the cancellation even though she had chosen the non-refundable option for the reduced price.  She was not due to check in until 7/18/20 and cancelled 6/8/20.  

My payouts are now showing a negative -$648 for 6/8/20 and all payouts after 6/8/20 are being held and applied to the negative amount.  I did not receive a payout form this guest because as you know payouts are not released until after check in.  So I am now hosting guests for the next month without receiving payouts.  Airbnb received this money so I feel they should be responsible for the refund. 

I had three phone calls with Airbnb support to get a straight answer about this issue.  The first phone call assured me that my missing payouts had been released and the negative amount would not affect my future payouts.  This obviously was not accurate and likely due to the Airbnb policy not being clear even to it's service center employees.

The only advice I got from the service center was to submit a message to the feedback center, which they do not respond to.  This is clearly not an incentive for hosts to be flexible or accommodating with cancellations. 

I just wanted other hosts to be aware of this issue when agreeing to future cancellations.  Stay Well Y'all!

[Pat271]

I also had a negative transaction entry due to a cancellation, so I called CS and, like you, I was told that it wouldn’t affect my payouts.  That turned out to be true; it didn’t affect my payouts.  So perhaps your payouts are being held up for another reason.  

I’d make a fresh call to CS and simply say “My guest checked in on 6/9 (or whatever), and I haven’t received the payout.”  Don’t even confuse them with the $-648 when you ask about it.

I have also had no problem getting hold of CS via chat - the last guy blew me away with his competence.  That’s hit or miss, though, but you might try it.

[Helen427]

haha @Pat271 

couldn't agree more about the hit and miss!!
Nearly 7 months on they are still missing the point that it was a Guest who  cancelled part way through their Reservation bc I within my rights firmly told them not to use my Residential address for their BANKING or TAX set up so suffered a Retaliatory Review which was rightfully removed , and still no Payouts to me!!

Perhaps ABB need to ensure they write proper file notes bc I should not be having to repeatedly have to go over the same carry on!!

It was thanks to @Huma0  that I learnt how to address this.

[Kelly149]

It’s great that @Pat271  got paid on time despite a cancellation but I’ve had the same experience as you @Kayla200 

good luck getting it resolved. Please let us know what happens. 

[Pat271]

@Kelly149 How was your payout resolved, Kelly?  Or are all your payouts still being held up?  That might be useful info for Kayla.

[Kelly149]

@Pat271 it resolves when the cancellation date rolls around and @Kayla200 gets "paid" for the guest who cancelled

[Pat271]

@Kelly149  Ah, that’s not how it was handled in my case. My payout for the cancelled guest was 0, and the $-xxx number I saw was just for bookkeeping, and was never subtracted from my interim guest payout amounts or timing.  

This is the way it should be, as otherwise you “floated” Airbnb the money until your cancelled guest is due to check in.  

I, too, am interested if Kayla now has to wait until a couple of days after 7/18 to get the money back.

[Paul1826]

My guest was a long-time guest. He booked for 11 months (original dates July 7, 2019 to June 10, 2020) but asked to check out 9 days early on June 1.
I had received NO June pay out. My last pay out was May 8, 2020.
My nightly rate is $75.
I was charged an adjustment of $1,585.77 for 9 days. This is nearly my monthly rate! My rate for 9 days is aprox $611 with my weekly discount or $675 with no discount.

One host noted that when AirBnb recalculates the guest's stay that they often fail include the embedded discounts for longer stays which results in a more costly adjustment.
If I was not issued the June payout for this extended stay, how do I owe an adjustment at all much less such a hefty one?
Trying to come back from the pandemic cancellations this is hitting hard. Current guests are staying for "free" until the balance is paid off.
AirBnB support makes all the sympathetic noises and refers me to a case manager who hasn't contacted me since I called 4 days ago.

[Helen427]

Thanks @Kayla200 @Paul1826 @Pat271 @Kelly149 
It appears some within Customer Services are incompetent and not trained with understanding this process when a Guest cancels part way though a Reservation.

A little education would go a long way to ensure prompt payments especially when they are working for us and supposed to pay out within 24 hours.

This decision from Data Protection Ireland may also be of assistance for those who have been hit with 'Paused Payments'

Inquiry Airbnb Ireland UC September 2022 

https://dataprotection.ie/en/resources/law/decisions/inquiry-airbnb-ireland-uc-september-2022

One must always do Due Diligence when it comes to addressing matters instead of using the old chestnut KYC as it's the chronological order and chain of events that trigger these matters.